ruining the coating on the chicken. “There
is a two minute hand washing break
after every batch is processed,” said
Watcharapon Prasopkiatpoka, managing
director of the plant.

After the product is breaded, it isconveyed to the cooking room whereit can undergo frying and oven baking.Temperature readings are taken and thewhole batch is individually quick frozen.After 30-70 minutes, depending on theproduct size, the product is placed intobags, sealed and sent through a metaldetector. Roughly 700 tons of finishedproduct can be stored on site, before beingshipped out.The plant produces 150-200 active SKUs,but mainly produces three to four productsfor its largest foodservice customers.However, due to the variation in products, theplant floor configuration is highly flexible andequipment is on wheels so it can easily bemoved and changed out.For now, the plant uses a mix of manuallabor and automation because it suits thetype of production.“In animal protein processing, you buya whole animal and have to makesomething out of it,” said Kabat. “You cando it with less labor, but yields are betterwith manual labor.”

As part of its growth strategy, CMT
is investing in R&D and is shifting to
become consumer-centric. The company
wants to understand the end-user’s
purchasing habits so it can help its retailer
customers’ product portfolio. “We reach a lot
of different people in a lot of different eating
occasions in a lot of different countries,”
Kabat said. “So we are looking at different
packaging and products that are geared
toward the consumer.”

Jelly Belly

Located in Thailand’s southeast industrial
development corridor about two hours
from Bangkok is the only Jelly Belly plant
located outside of the U.S. The family-owned
business, whose U.S. plants are located in
California and Illinois, wanted to grow its
international business.

“It’s tough in the U.S. to service
customers outside it, and our international
business wasn’t growing,” said Herman
Rowland, Jr., who represents the fifth
generation in the family business, and
currently serves as the managing director
the Thailand plant. His father, Herman
Rowland, Sr., chairman of Jelly Belly’s board,
was searching for an international location
for more than a year.

Thailand was picked because of itsabundance of sugar and access to tapiocasyrup for its development of non-GMOproducts. “We wanted access to sugarand good prices on syrup and labor,” saidRowland, Jr. “Plus, the labor is wonderful,it’s a great country, a happy place; the landof smiles.”Jelly Belly has expanded three times inits decade-long history in Thailand. Now it’s